West Rand quiet after violent protests

Captain Mosotho Phaahla said the area was calm and the roads that had been barricaded by protesters were now open to traffic.

On Tuesday, protesters barricaded roads and stoned vehicles and police officers. They also set parts of the municipal building alight.

Police fired rubber bullets at the crowd when they attacked fire fighters who had been called to the scene.Three people were injured and taken to hospital.

Police could not confirm reports that one of the hospitalised protesters had died.

Fifteen people were arrested and were expected to appear in the Kagiso Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.

Police were monitoring the area.

The violence broke out on Monday night after two school children, a girl and a boy, were run down by a truck on the busy main road next to the informal settlement as they made their way home, the Times reported on Wednesday.

The girl died on the scene; the boy was rushed to Leratong Hospital with serious injuries.

Soon after, 600 residents took to the streets to demand that the Mogale City municipality construct speed humps on the road to reduce the accident rate.
– Sapa